SOC 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Snob
Document Summary
Many of the names the boys used to insult each other imply some form of weakness such as pud, squirt, and wimp. Other names, such as pussy, girl, fag, and queer, associate lack of toughness directly with femininity or homosexuality. These names are used when boys fail to meet certain standards of combativeness. It is within peer groups that children often encounter their first experiences with status distinctions: Very early on, children begin to distinguish between the kids who are valued and those who are not. In her study of adolescent culture, donna eder found many examples of this phenomenon in her interviews with middleschool students: Julie: and those kids who are poor and can"t afford expensive clothes sit over there. [points to the other side of the cafeteria] Bonnie: like if there"s a gross dirty kid that came and sat by this girl that was real clean and everything she"d go, oh, gross.
